To pop a qeustion up, I was wondering what Woodbridge wines are like? Any good? I am planning on getting myself their Merlot.Or, suggest another wine from Woodbridge that you think is better. That's if, the wines are any good.

Hmm only a "C"? I want a good introduction to wine. So, how are Robert Mondavi wines? I can fetch them around here for around $25 CDN which isn't to bad. Any reccomendations from them (again, if there a good wine)?

In most provinces, you can get very nice wines for less than $25. Heck, even in BC where wine is ridiculously expensive, I got about 8 decent bottles yesterday for $120.

If you're in BC (particularly Vancouver area), check www.bcliquorstores.com and go to one of the stores listed as a "Signature Store", where they have "product experts" or "wine stewards" or whatever you want to call them. If you're in Calgary, head over to Kensington Wine Market and they'll be able to help you with anything you want. Most provinces should have the availability of nicer wines for less.

I live in Nova Scotia, and for wine, I check (www.thenslc.com). And 8 bottles of wine for $120 sounds rediculously cheap. You can check out the site, but what was reccomened to me for wines like, Dr.loosen,Mondavi,and Blackstone all in the $20-$25 range. Also, have you tried Robert Mondavi wine?

Well, I'm no wine connoisseur, by any means. I'm new to wine, as well. I have had a Woodbridge (although it was a White Zin) and it was NOT good. It wasn't terrible, but I'd never buy it again.

The 8 bottles I bought were on the advice of the wine steward at my local liquor store and I just told her that I wanted good quality without spending too much and told her what I liked, so she dragged me around and showed me all this great stuff so I just bought and bought and bought. The prices for the bottles ranged from $9.90 for a Spetlase, $9.99 for a Chilean Cono Sur Pinot Noir to $23.99 for a 2002 Frescobaldi Chianti Rufina Riserva. The only thing she asked of me was to take notes of what I thought of the various wines and bring them back and tell her what I thought.

Good luck and I hope you find something without having to break the bank.

EDIT - as a note - re tasting notes and what not, I downloaded an Excel spreadsheet from MS Office Online and it has a column for tasting notes, so it'll be easier to keep track of it all.

I'd like to hear your notes that you make for the wines you got, perhaps I will be inclined enough to buy some of the same kind.
I would like to state for reccomendations at my store is futile. No one knows nothing hardly, the one person that did help me, didn't know really what the hell to choose. She said "Alot of people buy this wine", so I said "I will take it". I forgot what it was, but it tasted like earth and basement, it was terrible. So, that's my horrible introduction to wine.

Robert Mondavi's wines are all pretty good (except the Woodbridge line) so if that's all you can find now, go ahead and try some. I really like the cabernet sauvignon and the pinot noir. I'm not crazy for the chardonnay or merlot, but they are both good wines too.

Hi Kip and welcome to the board. Mondavi, IMHO, is one of the benchmark wines of Napa. Their Reserves are among the finest wines made in Napa and their 2nd tier wines,Like the Napa Cabernet is consistantly superior. The wines above do need some time in the bottle to show their stuff.WW

IMO the Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely better than the Robert Mondavi Coastal wines, but as WW indicated, it needs some time to reach maturity. (I don't care for the Woodbridge wines) If you are really just getting started in wine you may want something that is drinkable right now. You might try German Riesling (perhaps from the Mosel region), a basic Tempranillo wine from the Rioja region of Spain, a Castle Rock Pinot Noir or a Beaujolais-Villages. To accompany fish, green vegetables, salads with vinaigrette dressing and many appetizers, Sauvignon Blanc is an attractive white wine. Some of the best are from the Sancerre region of France or from New Zealand.
Deputy, it sounds like the woman you dealt with in the wine shop was very customer oriented. It's too bad they are not all equally trained and enthusiastic.

This would be one of my first impressions of wine, so I better choose one that is ready! By the way, would you reccomend Dr.Loosen's Reisling(which is German), goes for around $14 here, which would be a great price for me, if it's any good. Also, if it helps, it's not a Reisling Kab or AUSLESE I am talking about, It's just self titled "Dr Loosen Riesling - Weingut Dr Loosen" under the store I buy from.

I agree 100%. I LOVE Loosen wines. In fact, we ordered a bottle of 2004 Wehlener Sonnenhur Spatlese with our dinner a nice German restaurant on friday.

On another note for this thread, my company carries the Mondavi line of wines. One Woodbridge wine to actually try is their Port. Its not actually part of the woodbridge line which you find on the bottom shelf at the store, but a very nice ruby style port that is named after the location of the winery. I asked the rep why they called it woodbridge when it was so good. I don't think he cared for the question, implying the other woodbridge wines weren't good....but thats what I was told.

I was looking under Zinfandel's and came across Fetzer Valley Oak Zinfandel, just wondering if anybody can provide me feedback for this wine? It's a good price and sounds like it has very interesting tasteing notes.It's just as much as the Dr.Loosen wine which runs around $15, which is definitley easy on my wallet.

I don't have experience with that wine. Give it a try and tell us what you think of it. (I used to like Fetzer Gewurztraminer--a white wine-- but now prefer the Gewurztraminer from Alsace).
Anyone else had the Fetzer Valley Oak Zinfandel?